The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-15
A SURGEONS LIFE.
a rage or Two From the Experience OF Q
Famous Physician.


Fapous Physician.
have always maintained that it Is
impossible for any man to be great
surgeon if he is destitute. even in con.
siderable degree, of the finer feelings OF
our nature. / have cfteh lain awake for
hours the night before an important
operation. and suffered great mental dis
tress for days after it was over, until ]
was certain that my patient was out Of
danger. l do not think that it is pos
slble for a criminal to feel much worse
the night before his execution than a
surgeon when he knows that upon his
skill and attention must depend the
late of a valuable citizen, husband.
father, mother or child. Surgery under
such circumstances is a terrible task
master. feeding like vulture upon a
mans vitals. 1t is surprising that any
surgeon in large practice should ever
attain to respectable old age, so great
are the wear and tear of mind and body.
The world has seen many sad pics-
ure. will draw one of the surgeon.
1t is midday; the sunis bright and beau
tlful; all nature is redolent of joy; men
and women crowd the street, arrayed
in their best. and all. apparently. is
peace and happiness within and with
out In a large house, almost over
hanging this street so full of life and
gayety, lies upon couch an emaciated
figure. once one of the sweetest and
loveliest of her sex, q confiding and af-
fectioHate wife, and the adored mother
of numerouschildren, the subject of a
frightful disease of one of her limbs, or,
it may be, of her jaw, if not of a still
more important part of her body. In
an adjoining room is the surgeon. with
his assistants. spreading out his instru-
ments and getting things in readiness
for the impending operation. He as
signs to each his appropriate place.
One administers chloroform; another
takes charge of the limb; one screws
down the tourniquet upon the principal
artery. and another holds himself in
readiness to follow the knife with the
sponge. The flaps are soon formed.
the bone severed, the vessels tied, and
the huge wound approximated. The
woman is pale and CHASTITY. the pulse
hardly perceptible, the skin wet with
clammy perspiration, the voice hushed,
the sight indlstinct Some one whis-
pers into the ear of the busy surgeon:
The patient, fear. is dying" Re-
storatives are administered, the pulse
gradually rises. and after a few hours
of hard work and terrible anxiety reac-
ton occurs. The poor woman was only
faint from the joint influence of the
aneSthetic, shock and loss of blood. An
assistant, kind of sentinel, is placed
as a guard over her, with instructions
to watch her with the closest care, and
to send word the moment the slightest
change for the worse is perceived.
The surgeon goes about his business,
visits other patients on the way, and at
length, long after the usual hour, he
sits down, worried and exhausted. to
his cold and comfOrtless meal, with 2
mouth almost as dry and q voice rs
husky as his patients. He eats me-
chanically, exchanges hardly a word
with any member of his family. and
sullenly retires to his study. to pre-
scribe for his patients--never, during
all this time, forgetting the poor mutt
lated object he left few hours ago.
He is about to lie down to get mo-
ment' 5 repose after the severe toll of
the day, when suddenly he hears
loud ring of the bell and servant,
breathIess with excitement, begs his
immediate presence at the sick chamber
with the exclamation: They think
Mrs. - is dying" He hurries to the
scene with rapid pace and anxious feel
ing. The stump is of a crimson color,
and the patient lies in profound
swoon. An artery has suddenly given
way, the exhaustion is extreme; cor
dials and stimulants are at once
brought into requisition. the dressings
are removed and the recusant vessel is
promptly secured.
The vital current GIBBS and flows. re-
action is still more tardy than before,
and it is not until late hour of the
night that the surgeon, literally worn
out in mind and body, retires to his
home in search of repose. Does he
sleep? He tries. but he can not close
his eyes. His mind is with his patient;
he hears every footstep upon the pave
ment under his window, and is in mo-
mentary expectation of the ringing of
the night-bell He is disturbed by the
widest fancies, he sees the most terrific
objects, and, as he rises early in the
morning to hasten to his patients
chamber, he feels that he has been
cheated of the rest of which he stood
so much in need. Is this picture over
drawn? l have sat for it thousand
times, and there is not an educated,
conscientious surgeon that will not GER
tify to its accuracy.-AutobiOgrGphy Of
the late DR.. Gross.
SPOOI G EOR THREAD